It Shouldn't Be This Way
by Brickwall847
Summary: Life shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't hurt this bad. And I'm going on without you, wherever you are. At least, I'll try. [EdXWin, mini angst, no suicides despite the summary] Hiatus
1. Half a Homecoming

**Based off of the song 'It Probably Wouldn't Be This Way'. **

**A/N: Ages are as follows. **

**Winry-18/19;Edward-19/20; Alphonse-17/18**

* * *

Winry sat in their dark bedroom weeping, a crumpled paper in her hands. 

"You jerk. You were always so egger to leave, well now you can't come back. Happy?" she asked, resentment seeping into her voice. Winry threw the paper as far as it would go and collapsed back onto the bed, putting her head in-between her knees. "Damn it Ed, you could've just stayed here, ya know."

"What makes you think I wanted to leave?" A voice asked.

"Ed?" she asked meekly, looking up. Everything was blurred from the tears that still held her eyes captive. Wiping them away she saw a still blurry figure standing above her, arms crossed.

"Edward?"

_Blink_

_Blink_

_Blink_

Winry blinked a few more times to focused the image and cocked her in confusion.

And then she laughed.

Recrossing his arms the figure, Ed, shouted, "Well, what's so damn funny?"

"It's just that it doesn't matter that I'm miserable, I have to be crazy too? It's almost…ironic," she said sighing.

"Hey, you were crazy before this.So don't you dare go and blame me for your insanity." Edward said with fake offense in his voice.

"Hey! You don't get to have an opinion. You're-" Winry shouted in a humor laced voice. Then the seriousness of what she was going to say hit her. In a sad voice she continued. "You're dead."

She settled her head back in-between her knees. The luminous figure moved forward and lifted her chin so their eyes met.

"Who says I'm dead?" he asked, covering her mouth with his.

When he pulled away, Winry let her head fall to his shoulder. The emotionally exhausted girl, finally feeling safe, muttered, "You're still a jerk," as she fell asleep.

Wrapping his no longer shimmering coat around her, he whispered, "Yeah, I know" and faded away.

* * *

**Yes, I know.I'm starting a new one. Yes, I'll work on it when I can. And yes, it is annoyingly short. You're welcome. I did move back Ed's dissapearance a couple years because it helps with the overall plot. And cause I'm the writter. So now, what is the important lesson we've learned here? Yes, if you give me a story, I do let the power go to my head.**

**Now review me! Please? **

**Brickwall847**


	2. Words, Etched from Beyond

Winry slowly awoke and moved her head a few inches, desperately trying to stay inside her joyous dream. It hit something hard.

"Crap," she muttered sleepily. Winry then decided that her day would most certainly suck beyond all belief, after all, when is it good to start your day out with a profanity?

In an attempt to 'fix' her day, Winry returned to her happy, now day, dream. She snuggled into the warm cloth around her and thought of him.

_Edward. You idiot, you're not supposed to visit me in dreams. You're actually supposed to come back._

Sighing, she mumbled his name into the scratchy fabric beneath her face. She began the horror of waking and regained some sensibility.

_When did we get scratchy sheets? Great, now I'm going to have to buy new ones…And I thought only the blankets felt like this…_

The blanket moved just enough to uncover her shoulder.

_Damn cold air. Well, I guess it's time to get up. See ya latter Ed_.

Moaning to herself, Winry opened her eyes to the boys' bedroom and the end of Edward's bed. Edward's completely made bed.

Winry grabbed one end of the supposed blanket that was wrapped around her and whipped it around.

It was a coat, a big, brown leather coat.

Tilting her head, Winry said in confusion, "This looks familiar… Where have I seen this coat before…? Oh well!"

Winry smiled a little to herself as she buried her nose into the fabric and breathed in.

_It smells like…leather._

_And mechanics._

_And smog._

Winry pulled away and made a face. Giving the coat a smile she said, "Silly city people, don't they know all those cars will kill them?" She yawned and settled back down on the bed.

"Silly people..." she muttered taking another breath of the coat.

Her brain, now returning to it's half-awake state, began contemplating the strange smell of the 'smog'.

"It's almost metallic…" Winry whispered to herself.

"It smells like… it smells like, like alchemy." She said, letting her eyes close.

_Alchemy...Ed..._

"Alchemy!" she screamed, leaping out of bed.

Instantly awake, Winry looked up at the ceiling and screamed, "Edward Elric, get your self-righteous ass down here! Now!"

Winry drew in another breath of air to rant at her 'deceased' friend when the phone rang.

She stomped down the stairs and grabbed the receiver. "Yes," she spat into it.

"Miss Rockabell? It seems that some new evidence has surfaced in the Elric case and-"

"Did they find Ed?" Winry hastily asked, cutting the woman off.

"No, but they did find some letters-" the woman began again.

"Is that all?" she asked in a monotone, sighing. "You don't have to explain the contents to me. Al will -"

"Miss.?" The secretary asked, cutting Winry off this time. "They haven't been opened."

"But, why not?"

"They're addressed to you." The secretary continued.

A stunned Winry fell back into a near by chair.

"Mr. Alphonse Elric says that they are in his brother's handwriting."

Winry stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Miss.?" The secretary's voice was lined with worry.

Shaking herself out of shock Winry responded. "Yes. Thank you for telling me. Please, send me the letters"

Before the woman could respond, Winry hung-up the phone.

"Damn it Ed. Did you really have to write me?"

* * *

**Hello again. I gave you a longer chapter this time so yay. I'll make this short because FMA is literally coming on right now. **

**Bye!**


	3. Late Night Encounters

Winry looked at the phone in dismay.

_Maybe hanging up on that secretary wasn't the best idea…_

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath. "Who knows when we'll get anything like this again. I should've said I'd come and get them..."

Winry looked at the phone, then her hand and then at the jacket. The frustration inside of her grew until she threw the phone a crossed the room, screaming as it sailed through the air.

She sat down in a huff and, sighing, looked over at the shattered reminisces of the phone.

She chewed on the side of her mouth and said, "I'm going to have to fix that now, aren't I?"

Winry dropped her head and thought of all the work she had awaiting her.

She heard a faint noise coming from outside. Winry ignored it and went back to her list. It wasn't until the noise became a voice and the message became her name that she looked outside.

Winry miserably stomped down the stairs and hoped that the visit would be good news, or at least less depressing news. She put on a fake smile and opened the door.

A young Alphonse Elric stood panting at her door. Before she could start their regular greetings he caught his breath and began glancing around the room.

"Al? What are you doing?" Winry asked with a quizzical look on her face.

Al's head popped up from behind the couch.

"I heard a crash, and then you screamed, and I thought-"

"Yeah…About that. Can you fix my phone?" she asked with a smile.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Winry had a working phone and Al had numerous questions, such as "Winry? Why was your phone shattered?"

Winry laughed nervously for a second and then answered his question with a question of her own. "Al, why didn't you call ahead? You always call before you drop in on me."

"Well, someone from investigations gave me this envelope to give to you," Alphonse began. "And, besides, Brother's birthday is next week and…"

"Yeah, I know." Winry responded with sad eyes. "Hey, you still have that envelope?"

"Somewhere…" he said, rummaging through a small bag.

"Here it is." He declared, pulling the envelope from his bag.

She gently tore open the large envelope and poured its contents onto the nearby table. There were four or five business envelopes inside, each one addressed to Winry.

With half a smile she said one word.

"Edward."

* * *

The two piddled around, trying to keep their minds off the letters Winry had refused to open until later that night. By the time dinner rolled around, she gave up on being patient and called Al over.

She caressed the letter silently for a moment before opening it. She glanced at the date and set it down. Winry opened each envelope with care and followed the same process until they were all lying open on the table.

Winry picked up the letter with the oldest date and began to read it. Halfway through them, Winry dropped the letter, hung her head and cried. Al reached over and began to pick up the letter when Winry's voice stopped him.

"Don't," she said. "There's a bunch of stuff in there that you don't know, and some gory details you won't want to remember."

"Here," she said, handing him the last letter. "This one's for you."

Winry stood and gathered the remaining letters. "I'm going to bed, okay? You're room's just as you left it. Wake me if you need anything."

With that she walked away from the table and up the stairs, leaving Al alone. He began the letter.

* * *

An hour later, Al walked to his room in a zombie like fashion. He kicked of his boots and collapsed onto the bed. Al maneuvered his arms out of his coat and pushed it off the bed. A voice retaliated.

"Hey!" the voice declared, causing Al to sit up with a start. "What the hell do you think you're doing with that jacket! That thing's practically my legacy, so stop treating it like shit!"

Alphonse's eyes darted around the room trying to find a possible hiding place for the voice's owner. Finding none, he turned to his brother's old tactics, bluffing his ass off.

He cautiously reached over to the desk and pretended to pull something off of it. "Whatever you're thinking, it won't work. I've got a gun and-"

"You don't have a gun. Alphonse Elric, how dense do you think I am? You wouldn't fire a gun if your life depended on it. It's completely against your morals. Besides, haven't you figured out who I am yet?" the voice demanded.

"Stay the hell away from my family!" Al screamed to the sky.

* * *

Rooms away, a groggy Winry convinced her body to leave the warmth of her bed. Stumbling through the darkness she made her way to the boys' room.

"Al?" she asked quietly, standing in the doorway.

"Winry, get out of here!" Alphonse demanded as the voice cheerfully said, "Hiya sleepyhead!"

"Stay away from her!" Al exclaimed.

"Edward," Winry replied closing her eyes. "It's too early, or late, or whatever for this. Can't you bug me at reasonable hours, like normal people?"

Stepping out from behind the dresser, Edward pouted "Hey, if you don't want me here I can just leave."

"Hey! You got sleep last night idiot! I didn't! So if I'm a bit grumpy, it's _your_ fault!" Winry bellowed in a huff.

"What is going on here?" Al roared over the two.

"That's a very good question. Care to explain Ed?"

* * *

**Hello there. Sorry about last week's minimum of me rambling. I don't think that sentence made sense… Well anyways, for those of you who are paying attention, Winry came down stairs in both this chapter and the last. But it's two am and I don't feel like fixing that detail. I'm cranky, so sue me. (Please don't. You'll end up on the 'Why People Think the U.S. is Stupid' list. You'd be the new kid who sued his parents for not aborting him person.)**

**Also, my cat was put down last night and my head hurts and I haven't written the chapter for Complications yet… Ugg! I have more work than Winry! Plus this chapter is four pages if you count my rants. That's really good for this story. Going to sleep now. Yawn. **

**Love! Hugs! And Yawns!**

**Brickwall847**


	4. One Side or Another

**Hey all! No yelling! Now, I'm sure you have lots of questions like 'Where the hell were you!' and stuff like that. Well, being my own courteous self, I'm going to ask you questions instead of answering yours. It's called avoiding the question. So, which do you think the male characters of FMA fear more, fangirls or us writers?**

**Answer me! I might just start keeping track of how many people review and refuse to post until I get x number of reviews. Blackmail is fun. **

**On with the story! (Curse you fingers!)**

* * *

"What is going on here?" Al roared over the two. 

"That's a very good question. Care to explain Ed?"

"I probably know less than you do…" he said, sighing.

Winry's face immediately switched over to 'worry'. "You mean you're not doing this? You're not halfway through the Gate or something? This isn't your alchemy?"

"No, and if it's alchemy, it's from your side." Ed stated, as if this were common knowledge.

Alphonse, sick of trying to follow their conversation, asked, "What's so important about a gate? And what sides? Where are you Brother?"

Both Edward and Winry stared at him in awe. "You don't know?" they asked in unison.

Winry, getting over her shock first, knelt down to Al, who was still in the bed. "Izumi didn't tell you about the Gate? Nothing at all?"

Al relayed the small amount of information he knew about the entire situation. It consisted of the basics: Al's soul being attached to the armor, Ed's automail, joining the military, the knowledge that they were searching for the stone, and that Ed had saved him from _something_ big at the end of their journey.

Ed pushed Winry over and looked intently into Alphonse's eyes. "Does the name Envy mean anything to you? Lust? Dante?"

"No, should they?" Al asked quietly.

Ed's gaze softened and he responded with a smile. "No, they shouldn't."

They sat in a comfortable for the next few minutes until Ed plopped down on his old bed and asked, "So, what's the pyro blown up recently?"

Al laughed and began the first of many stories. Winry took this opportunely to sit down next to Ed, and move a little closer than usual.

A few hours later, Ed gently nudged Winry whose head had fallen onto his shoulder.

"You awake?" he whispered.

"That depends," she responded in a daze. "What is it you need?"

He was quiet for a while before speaking.

"I need your help."

She looked up at him in alarm. "What?"

"I need your help. I need your help getting home…" Ed let his voice trail off.

"Okay…" She said, beginning to think. "I can get your alchemy books if you want…"

"They're not going to help Win," Ed started. "There's no alchemy on Earth."

She sat up and didn't even try to mask the pain in her voice, "Then how are you getting back? You're not leaving me here alone Ed. You're not. You're just not."

"Wouldn't even try Win," he whispered softly, pulling her closer. "Wouldn't even try."

They sat there a few moments, relishing the calm before the storm of their lives continued.

Winry, unable to ignore the ominous feeling any longer, broke the silence. "How are you getting back?"

"Alchemy," he said, staring strait ahead.

"But- I thought- It doesn't- What?" Winry stammered, unable to complete a thought. After a few seconds, she sighed and continued. "How am I helping again?"

"All you have to do is find an alchemist."

"I can do that-" Winry started before being cut off.

"An alchemist who doesn't think we're crazy."

"Now you're just making it difficult!" Winry exclaimed.

"Shhh! You'll wake him up." Ed shushed, jerking his head in Al's direction.

"You're the one who's going to wake him up. You and your cockamamie ideas." She declared, nose to nose.

"They've served me well so far," he countered with a smile.

"Says the idiot on the wrong side of the Gate."

Winry yawned and placed her head back on Edward's shoulder. In a half-awake tone she muttered, "At least you're my idiot," before falling asleep.

He looked down at the dozing girl an said to himself, "You're idiot huh?

"I can live with that."

* * *

_Meanwhile in Munich:_

An extremely grumpy Edward Elric stomped down the stairs of Alphonse Heiderich's home, waking the older boy.

Plopping himself on the coach, Edward threw a pillow over his head to block out the birds' chirping and mumbled curses at them mercilessly.

Alphonse's head pocked out from behind his door and asked "Edward, you okay?"

His concern was met by a pair of bloodshot eyes and the mumbled phrase, "Birds are loud." After uttering the simple phrase, Edward's head retreated back under the pillow.

"Okay then," the boy muttered before slipping back into his own room.

* * *

**Oh yes! I feel special! It only took three days to write this. Well, anyway, the reason I haven't been updating is that my English grade has officially died and if I don't want to spend my summer in school I have to get an A on this quarter and my exams. So, for the good of everyone, I will be putting writing off for a while. Sorry. But on the bright side, I think Roy will be making an appearance next time. Even if it's only to listen to the two of use bicker. **

**As for Alphonse Heiderich's personality and such, I will be basing that off of Alphonse Elric. Cause people tell me this is one of the things that makes Ed homesick. I also _think_ he's older, but I might be wrong. If I am, please tell me. I would greatly appreciate it!**

**And now I have to go work on and English project. Remember! Reviews! Bye! **

**Love!**

**Brickwall847**


	5. Notice

**NOTICE!**

I am sorry to inform you that all of my stories are going on a permanent hiatus in their current forms. Each story, except for the poems, will be rewritten in their own time. I do not know what story will be first, so please do not ask. I will not, however, delete the stories and then put them back up. They will stay where they are, under the same titles, and I will just overwrite each chapter. So, please do not take them off of your Story/Author alerts unless you have no desire to read them at all. The full reasons for this decision is in my profile, in case you would like a detailed reason. If you have any questions feel free to review on this chapter or to PM me at any time.

(On a side note, as the chapters are rewritten and posted I will delete all of the reviews for that particular chapter so you can review again, if need be.)

I apologize for any problems this has caused anyone.

BW


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